By Kirk Maltais

--Wheat for December delivery fell 2.2% to $7.06 1/2 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday in reaction to the rising U.S. Dollar Index.

--Corn for December delivery fell 1.3% to $5.32 1/2 a bushel.

--Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.8% to $12.77 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Pulling the Plug: Wheat futures led grains lower today as a strengthening U.S. dollar appears to be affecting wheat more than its corn or soybean counterparts. "It's not surprising that the longs in wheat would likely be pulling the plug on their positions with a 10-Month high in the US Dollar Index," said Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics. "Our U.S. wheat price is getting more expensive at a time when ample competitive stocks can be found." Indications of additional export taxes on Russian wheat have been a factor supporting wheat futures recently.

Something's Missing: In its roundup of daily flash export sales, the USDA confirmed that 150,000 metric tons of corn was sold to Mexico for delivery in the 2021/22 marketing year. However, no mention was made of any new sales of corn to China, which is likely to weigh on CBOT corn futures, especially after signs of thawing in US-China relations. "There is some optimism in the Ag market that the recent agreement between the U.S. and China that led to Canada releasing the CFO of Huawei could lead to more export sales to the world's largest grain importer," said Robert Yawger of Mizuho Securities USA.

INSIGHTS

Rapid Reaping: The USDA's crop progress report released late yesterday showed that harvesting for corn and soybeans is progressing faster than the pace of recent years. The U.S. corn harvest is now 18% complete, which is up from the 4-year average of 15%. Meanwhile, the soybean harvest is 16% complete, up from a 4-year average of 13%. "The weather forecast for early October is not calling for much precipitation, so harvest progress over the next couple of weeks will be rapid," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage.

Turning Higher: Daily production of ethanol in the U.S. is expected to jump in this week's report from the EIA, according to analysts surveyed by Dow Jones. They peg production to total as high as 946,000 barrels per day, which is up from last week's estimation of 926,000 barrels per day. If production were to turn that high, it'd be the highest level since mid-August. Meanwhile, ethanol inventories in the U.S. are generally expected to decline this week, potentially falling to under the 20 million barrel mark.

AHEAD:

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

--The USDA will release its quarterly grains stocks report at noon ET Thursday.

--The USDA will release its monthly agricultural prices report at 3 p.m. ET Thursday.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-28-21 1533ET